When University of the Ozarks student Marcella Serrano, a senior communications major, was looking for a summer internship last spring, she sent her resume to many of the major television news networks, hoping for some luck.

Although only one of the networks responded to Serrano's request, she knew when it happened that luck had been on her side.

"Only one called me back, and it was CNN," Serrano said. "I couldn't believe it. I don't really believe in luck, but I was lucky to get that internship."

Serrano spent two months in New York City, working for the cable network. She worked in various aspects of the business updates department, and she said the experience was "wonderful."

"My manager was the executive producer of the business updates," she said. "I was the only intern in that department, so he said he would rotate me between jobs. I worked with producers, anchors, reporters and producers assistants."

The job allowed Serrano to get hands-on experience doing many different tasks involved in television news production.

When she worked with the producers, she learned how to write stories. When she worked with producers assistants, she learned the process of taking video clips and putting them together to make a "hit," or video to accompany a particular story.

"I worked in packages for some of the anchors, ran the teleprompter, shadowed the producers, and worked with the editors," she said. "One of the assignments I was given was to write stories on my own. They weren't actually used, but it was good experience."

Serrano also worked on a shoot with CNN-Espanol.

"Everyone was really nice to me," she said. "I got many priveleges that some of the other interns didn't get."

Although the internship was unpaid and Serrano had to put in a full 40-hour work week, she said she wouldn't have traded the experience for anything else.

"I've always wanted to do broadcasting," she said. "I want to be an anchor, so I was really happy they placed me in news. A lot of the interns got placed in different areas and learned other aspects of the business, but I actually got to work in news production."

She also got to work on production of news segments for many of CNN's networks, including Headline News, CNN-Espanol and the domestic and international departments of CNN itself.

The anchors Serrano worked with in the business updates department included Jennifer Westhoven, Gerri Willis, Valerie Morris and J.J. Ramberg.

A native of El Salvador, Serrano said the experience made her anxious to pursue a career in television. She said her internship was valuable in many ways, but it especially helped her to see clearly the career she wants to pursue.

"It defined what I really want to do when I graduate," she said. "I know it's gonna take awhile to get to the point where I'm a news anchor working for a major network, but I know for sure now that I would really enjoy doing that. And I know that I can do it.

"Everybody at CNN made my learning experience fun. It was by far the best experience of my life."